Argument

Sari

I lay down in the grass, and closed my eyes."So," I said loud and clear, so everyone could hear me, "What's the plan?"

"What plan?" Muri responded.

"Y'know," I said, opening my eyes, "THE plan. Do we go back home, or what?"

"Oh!" Muri said, "THAT plan. Well," He paused. "I was thinking of adventuring..." Muri trailed off.

I sat up. "Are you out of your mind!?" I shouted. By now, everyone was staring at us, startled.

"Oh!" Muri yelled back, standing up to face me, "And you have a better plan?" He sneered at the word better.

And then we were face to face, staring each other down. "Yeah." I gritted my teeth, "I know I do."

"And how are you supposed get home? By taxi? Train? Car?"

"Well, I-" I stuttered, not knowing what to say. He had a point. How was I supposed to get home. No, how were we supposed to go back?

"Ha!" Muri barked, holding his head back, his chest puffed out with pride.

I just stood there, staring at him. Surprised at how much the laughter hurt.

Chapter 14:Trapped and Cornered

Ayumu

"We're lost," I said to Sari, trying to show her my disappointment. "What did I tell you?"

"No we're not," Sari said, giving me a look that clearly said: quit complaining and help me find a way out of this stinkin' forest.

I glared back, then too looked around for some kind of path. "We never had a chance of finding them in the first place," I mumbled, crossing my arms. "They were two hours ahead anyway."

"Stop it!" Sari shouted so suddenly that I jumped. "Y-you can just go home if you want, but I actually care for them. And if you don't really care after all they've done for you too, then I can't believe you're my sister!" she screeched in disgust.

I stared at her, and suddenly realized how important this mission was. "I'm sorry," I whispered, "I care about them too..." I trailed off. I took Sari's hand and started walking. Five minutes later, we came to a sign.

"Eh?" Sari said, "What in the world is this?"

"I have no idea..." I said, shaking my head.

I slowly read the sign. The print was tiny, and I leaned closer, squinting.

Up ahead,

You are almost there,

Follow the path,

To the land,

Of sweet affair.

-Hemuri

"Woah," I said, turning to Sari. "That was easy."

"What?" Sari said impatiently, "What was easy?"

"Finding them," I replied, smug.

"Finding who?"

"Hemu and Muri, of course! Who else are we looking for?" I sighed. I then gestured to the sign, and she took her turn at reading it.

"Okaay..." Sari said after reading the sign. "Fishy..."

"Huh?" I said, trying to conceal my excitement, "What's so fishy?"

"A lot of things," Sari said, looking down at me. "First of all, how do we know Hemu and Muri really wrote this? Would they even have the time to etch it in neatly like this? Also, this sign, it's like they knew we were coming. Like a set up... a trap."

"Damn it! We've been found out!" Someone cursed in the trees above.

Sari

I whistled, and Charismi landed on my shoulder.

"Plan B! Switch to plan B!" someone yelled in the trees. Ayumu and I both looked up, trying to spot out mysterious trap planner.

Charismi growled, tension rising.

"Ahhhhh!" people jumped down from the trees, landing gently on their feet. They all had armor on, and masks concealing their faces. Ayumu and I went back to back, staring at the three strangers. They suddenly moved in closer, forming a circle arounnd us. One pulled out its sword, and the other two followed suit.

Charismi growled, then shot a sudden burst flame toward the closest stranger. His mask melted, and his face was revealed. The man had a long scar from the left eye all the way down to his chin. The man frowned for a split second, then charged. I dodged instinctively, pulling Ayumu with me. Then the other two charged at us.

Everything went in slow motion. I tried to pull Ayumu out of the way, but the man with the scar blocked our escape. I stepped in front of Ayumu, crossed my arms against my chest, and waited for the blow to come.

Chapter 10: Night Meeting-Hemuri

Sari lay in bed, smoothing her hair out against her pillow. It had felt good to take a real shower after so long. Sari smiled, she liked the way her hair felt against her fingers. So fine and smooth, long and silky. She stared up at the bed above her, thinking about Charismi, who lay on top of a pillow next to her. Charismi opened one eye to check on Sari, then closed it and went back to snoring peacefully. Sari sighed, trying to roll over and close her eyes. The door creaked open and a head poked in.

“Still awake?” a voice fluttered in. It was one of the twins. His blue eyes pierced the darkness, bright and curious.

“Yeah.” Sari whispered back, turning to look at the boy more closely.

The boy walked over and sat on the edge of Sari’s bed, next to Charismi; who opened both eyes and snorted, tongue flickering.

“Hey! He’s just here to talk!” Sari said, scolding Charismi. Charismi looked at Sari, then the boy, then closed both eyes again and went back to sleep.

“Nice dragon you got there.” The boy whispered, staring at Charismi, “Sure a feisty one.”

“Yeah, I found Charismi in the woods not far from here. She has been with me ever since.”

“A girl, huh? Wow, must be cool.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, I’m Hemu; my brother’s name is Muri. Together we’re Hemuri. You’re not the only ones with superpowers, when me and brother are together, we can morph into anything and anybody we have seen. Also, we know everything and anything our object might know. All their knowledge, tactics, crime fighting skills, everything. So you better watch out, I’ve seen you know. You can’t hide.”

And with that, Hemu got up and walked out the doorway, closing the door softly behind him. Sari thought hard about what Hemu had said: morphing powers? Knowledge stealing? And what had he meant by “you can’t hide”? It was too much to think about. Sari sighed and muttered to herself quietly.

“Are you okay?” A tiny voice floated down to her ear. It was Ayumu.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s joking.”

“About the morphing part?”

“No, about the last sentence. He doesn’t really mean it.”

“Mean what?” Sari asked, her voice rising with concern.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.” Ayumu whispered, and Sari heard her lie down and roll over. She put her head back on the pillow just as Charismi opened her eyes again, this time with questioning.

Sari looked deep into Charismi eyes, knowing she was thinking the same thing as her: “What?” Sari shook her head, sighing deeply. “I don’t know Charismi, I don’t know.” Then Sari curled up, and went to sleep.